The rainy season in Japan—mixed with the dim-witted Yui and her sister Ui makes for a good laugh! In this screen capture from the Anime, Yui and Ui are walking to school and its pouring! Yui is trying to protect her guitar, Gita from the downpour but it’s a losing battle for her as she gets soaked by the falling rain, kids running by, a car splashing through a puddle and a dog shaking off on her. Finally, Yui ends up falling down finishing her off. Yui and Ui should follow suit and copy the woman who is walking the dog…but, then there wouldn’t be room for laughs!

Last time: Nao and Maki’s marriage ended in a peaceful divorce where Maki was quite generous with her Yen, allowing Nao to start a new life without any effort. The NEW ‘Hokago Tea Time’ played their first show and Nao took a detour on the way home to the local park where she met a teenage girl…Now, Nao and the girl talk; in…

K-ON!!!!! “Beautiful World” Part 7.

The teenage girl in the dirty yellow raincoat looked down a bit at Nao because she was actually taller at 5’2”, she had a pretty smile upon her lips and eyes that hid a sadness no one could describe. Nao looked at her and then absentmindedly reached out and tucked the girl’s ratty black hair into her loosely tied hood.

“You should stay dry, it’s humid, but you don’t want to get too wet,” Nao said softly.

“Yes Ma’am, thank you ma’am,” the girl answered staring at Nao’s eyes with her hands folded in her lap. The girl’s hands were dirty and her nails long and chipped with dirt underneath. There were streaks of dirt on the girls pretty face too, so Nao shrugged off her purse and opened it and took out a handkerchief and held the girls chin as she wiped away the dirt as best as she could.

“Did you fall down, you are such a mess?” Nao asked as she zipped up her purse.

“No ma’am, I just haven’t gotten the chance to use a public rest room to wash up—usually the adults take the first opening and I don’t end up getting a chance because the doors get locked up to keep us out,” the girl said still keeping the smile on her lips. Nao could see her teeth were in need of brushing—but that wasn’t the issue…

“What’s your name?” Nao asked.

“My name is Miho; Ma’am,” the girl replied.

“Miho, I had a daughter named Miho…” Nao said sadly.

“Had? What happened Ma’am?” Miho asked.

“She and her sisters died before they were born…” Nao replied softly.

“I’m sorry Ma’am…” Miho suddenly hugged Nao tightly and snuggled her hooded head against Nao’s causing the plastic to make a swishing sound from the contact. Miho let go of Nao and continued to smile.

“Where are your parents Miho?” Nao asked with an amazing tone of comfort from Miho’s affectionate contact with her.

“I don’t have parents Ma’am,” Miho replied.

“Any relatives?” Nao asked.

“No Ma’am….oh, I do stay with Obata-San in her tent some nights here in the park,” Miho replied.

You live in the tent city? You’re just a child,” Nao said with little surprise, she could tell that was where the conversation was heading.

“Yes Ma’am…So why are you so sad? Were you thinking about your children?” Miho asked.

“I got divorced about a week ago and I guess I just have it preying on my mind, so I thought I’d stop in the park to think—even though I’m just getting soaked sitting here,” Nao replied.”

“Well, it’s his loss then,” Miho said.

“…HER loss; I was married to a woman,” Nao said.

“Oh, I like that too; once I got enough for a room for the night when I gave myself to some woman…” Miho was stopped by Nao who said, “Never, ever do that again! You aren’t an object, you are a child!”

“Yes Ma’am, I’m sorry to have upset you ma’am…” Miho said quickly.

“I’m sorry, but you should never sell your body for any reason, even if there is nothing that you have, you should at least take a good level of care to be safe and true to yourself. You don’t strike me as the type to do such a thing,” Nao replied.

“Uh…this is a bit out of the blue, but would you like to come home with me? You can get dried up, take a nice bath and get cleaned up, get some clean clothes a nice meal and have a comfortable bed to sleep in—I’m sorry but you are soaked in sweat and the smell coming off of you from not bathing is pretty noxious…forgive my bluntness, but you are a child and you shouldn’t be out in this…place,” Nao said.

“I’d just be a bother to you…” Miho said.

“Actually, no, you wouldn’t; I really insist, however, I guess I can’t force you. I’m pretty lonely and would like the company; no strings attached, I’m not looking for anything in return, I just don’t think you should be out here alone,” Nao said.

“If you insist, then I must do what you tell me to,” Miho replied.

“So you’re like me, obedient—just don’t submit too much, you’ll end up in a lousy marriage where you are put on display in front of your friends…no, never mind. Come now, let’s get out of the rain and go Miho,” Nao said.

“Yes Ma’am, I just need to get something from Obata-San’s tent.” Miho replied.

“Ok, I’ll come with though, even if you’ve been doing this sort of thing a while, I don’t trust you to be alone,” Nao said.

“Two years…that’s how long I’ve been here,” Miho said as they stood up. Nao slung her purse over her shoulders and began following Miho towards the tent city.

“How old are you?” Nao asked.

“I’m fourteen Ma’am; I came here when I was twelve, I’m pretty used to it now,” Miho said.

Nao was quiet; she followed the teenager to an old, dirty red tent in the middle of the campfires and surrounding tents. When they arrived at the red tent, Miho said, “Obata-San, its Miho, may I come in?”

An elderly voice sounded out allowing Miho to enter, Nao followed behind. The tent was filled with old sleeping bags and some needed equipment like a cooking stove and other odds and ends. Nao took off her purse and opened it, she removed her wallet to get to her ID and said, “I am Nao Okuda; I’m going to take Miho to my home tonight, there is no reason a child should be living and struggling in a tent city. I don’t suppose that you’ll object to getting this poor girl off the streets?”

“No, it’ll be easier for me to go it alone…Miho should have a proper roof over her head anyhow. You better take care of her Okuda-San, I don’t want to hear that she was found dead in a few days—although, as small as you are, I doubt you’d have much chance against her if the need arose,” The old woman said.

“I’m ready, Miho said coming closer to the Obata and Nao, she held an old guitar case—something that peaked Nao’s interest quickly; however, she didn’t say anything at the moment.

Miho stood in front of the Obata for a moment and then bowed deeply holding the guitar case in both hands by the worn handle, she said, “Thank you so much Obata-San, I won’t forget you for taking care of me.” Miho straightened and smiled with her eyes closed.

“Miho, please wait outside the tent for a moment,” Nao said.

“Yes Ma’am,” Miho replied and made a final, quick bow to the old woman and stepped outside back into the light rain.

Nao pulled an envelope from her purse and slung one of the straps over her shoulder and then holding the envelope in two hands she bowed forward towards the old woman and said, “I want you to take this…”

“I don’t take hand outs…” She said.

“It’s not a hand out, its…call it rent for allowing Miho to keep her guitar here and for the shelter,” Nao replied.

“All right, if you put it that way…” The woman said taking the envelope in one hand and holding it.

“Don’t use it for alcohol all right, I earned that this evening, its meant for food, clothing and if you must remain in this tent city, go buy a better tent, you have leaks. Good bye and thank you for doing something for that child; now she is going to be a princess—a true rags to riches tale…she deserves it,” Nao said as she zipped up her purse and slung it over both shoulders; she left the tent with the old woman standing there with a solemn look upon her wrinkled face.

When she was sure both Nao and Miho were gone, she looked inside the envelope and found an equivalent of three thousand dollars in Yen…she would have become giddy at having so much—something that no one else in the city could ever be aware of; but it was the child as Okuda-San called her that she was happy for, she said, “Good bye Miporin-Chan; I’m really happy for you…be well…”

*****

Miho was giggling loudly as Nao maneuvered her Evolution on the highway around the slower moving traffic, she had never ridden in a car before, and this was so much fun! With her hood down, Miho’s long black hair looked like a frizzy, ratty mess. The harness was tight on Miho’s body holding her in the seat firmly as Nao popped the paddle shifter into six and the Evo settled at a constant speed. Nao smiled at Miho for a quick moment seeing her joyous behavior.

Nao pressed the power windows on all four doors lowering them all the way; the rain had stopped and she had to get the acrid smell of the 14 year old to leave her beautiful car…she couldn’t wait to “dump” Miho into the bath and get her some clean clothes—she would probably be able to fit into most of what Nao had, she was a bit taller, but that wouldn’t matter too much.

When they arrived at Nao’s home, Miho watched as Nao opened the harness and help her out of it. She then waited for Nao to come around to the left to open the door for her; the way the doors lifted upwards was really amazing. Before going into the house, Nao opened the rear left door which opened in reverse to the fronts—they were suicide-Lambo doors. Nao pulled out Miho’s guitar and handed it to her then drew out the cases of her SG and Roland, she leaned the cases against herself and took out the case for the synthesizer pedal box and handed it to Miho to carry and finally closed the door and locked the car. The two went to the homes entrance carrying two cases each and finally were able to enter with a little fumbling.

Nao leaned the cases up against the entrance wall and took the cases from Miho and put them next to hers, she then helped Miho out of her dirty raincoat and boots revealing that Miho was wearing a soiled Tee shirt and pants. Miho’s socks were once white but, now they were soiled and full of holes.

It was too much, so Nao ordered Miho to wait on the tile as she quickly took off the vinyl boots of her stage outfit and put her feet into house slippers. Nao left her raincoat on and retrieved a blanket from the living area off of the sofa which was behind the Kotatsu, she then returned to the entrance tile and said, “Miho, I want you to get completely undressed and wrap yourself in this blanket, ok?”

“Yes Ma’am,” Miho replied happily and started to undress. Nao turned around and waited, she didn’t know why, they were both girls, but Miho was a teenager and she wanted privacy at 14, so Miho should want the same.

“Ok Ma’am, I’m undressed…this blanket is so soft!” Miho said.

Nao turned around and took hold of the pile of Miho’s clothes and said, “I’m so sorry.” Then dumped them all into the trash can by the door, she then took hold of Miho’s wet raincoat and pushed it into the trash and finished with the boots. Nao then tied the bag and pulled it out of the can, she then opened the door and put the bag on the porch and closed the door and locked it.

“I have something for you to wear and we’ll go shopping tomorrow and get you anything and everything that you want, ok?” Nao said unsnapping her raincoat; noticing the puzzled look on Miho’s face, the teenager was surprised that Nao had simply thrown out everything she had worn?

Nao took off her raincoat and hung it up by the hood, she looked amazing in her stage outfit and Miho told her how cute she looked causing Nao to blush for a moment and then say, “Come now, you have to bathe, follow me.”

Nao took Miho to the bath and opened the door revealing a beautiful tiled room with a shower and tub, a stool for washing and many bottles of the finest shampoos. Miho was surprised and if she could see clearly, she would be even more surprised.

“I want you to wash yourself thoroughly, use the brush to scrub your back, wash your hair and I’ll comb it out when you are done bathing. Clean everything, I want you to have red skin by the time you are done, understand young lady?” Nao said firmly.

“Yes Ma’am, I understand,” Miho replied.

“The room to the left is the water closet, if you have to go, use the toilet and I also want you to brush your teeth, I’ll leave a new brush and paste out on the sink for you, I’ll also leave a hair brush and comb for you. There will be an outfit and underwear on the closed toilet seat; you’ll wear what I leave you. When you are done, bring the comb and brush to the room down this hallway and to the left, you’ll see a glass entryway that is the studio, you’ll meet me there. Take your time and clean yourself, ok Miho?” Nao said in a stern tone, however, Miho could tell that Nao was being very caring and concerned for her.

“Yes Ma’am, thank you very much,” Miho replied.

“Good girl, I’ll see you soon,” Nao said and left Miho to the bath.

*****

Nao sat at the end of the rise of the stage from the floor with the old guitar case that was Miho’s open, she kept looking at it, it was oddly in decent shape with some wear to the body, but nothing serious; it did however need some parts. Nao had taken off her corset but left the translucent green vinyl skirt on and her pink top. She looked through a box that looked as though it would store fishing tackle and found a wooden bridge, a set of bridge pegs to hold the strings, a nut for between the fingerboard and head stock and she chose a set of steel strings that would sound the best for the acoustic.

Miho’s acoustic guitar was a Takamine, Jasmine, it was well made and she began right to work on it starting with the nut, she fixed the notch because the original was missing and glued in the new. While doing this, she noticed that one of the tuning machines was missing so she dug out one that matched from her parts and replaced it. Nao then began stringing the guitar and she set the bridge in place; she wound the strings with a tuning peg winder and then retrieved a clip on tuner which she attached to the headstock.

At this point, Miho had come in wearing the outfit that Nao had left for her which consisted of her black with white trim and racing stripes on the cap sleeves top and white denim shortalls that fit Miho pretty well—although they were a little tight around her hips and legs because of her extra height of two inches. Miho’s long black hair was in better condition than it was when she first took the hood of her raincoat off, but Nao would have to brush it and comb it until all the mess came out and then she would probably have to cut the ends. For now though, she would introduce Miho to her restored guitar—at least playable if not restored.

“Yes Ma’am, thank you, I feel a lot better now. What are you doing to my guitar?” Miho asked.

“I’m making it playable, I just need to adjust the truss rod and it’ll be ready to go,” Nao replied placing a hex wrench into the sound hole and at the end of the neck where the truss rod was adjustable, she took her time checking the sound as she worked.

“You shouldn’t put yourself out for me Ma’am, I…” Miho started.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy Miho, come and sit, I’ll get to your hair shortly…you smell like lavender, how pretty,” Nao said with a smile—she was so happy that a bath was all Miho needed.

Nao checked the tuning of the guitar and was satisfied, so she removed the tuner from the head stock and took the guitar over her lap and began playing it randomly to see if the sound was accurate.

“I have a pretty song that I can play on this…I think you’ll like it,” Nao said and Miho sat up straight paying attention.

Nao began to play the opening of “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman and Miho became engrossed in the beautiful music. Nao then began to sing in her soft airy voice and that was when Miho got confused, she didn’t know what Nao was saying because the song was in English.

Nao pulled back into the tune on the guitar and stopped with the lyrics and said, “You don’t know much English if any, do you Miho?” Miho shook her head and Nao said, “Just listen then, you’ll feel the song in your heart, it doesn’t matter if you know the words or not—however, the words to this song are very touching and are pretty much a way to describe us…I’ll have to translate it into Nihongo so you know what I’m saying, I just can’t do it on the spot at this time…I’m pretty tired. Just listen Miporin.”

Nao started from the beginning and went though the song as best as she could without the accompaniment of the other instruments, she was also unable to tone her voice to the folk style, but she kept the song clean and sounding nice, putting in emotion when she needed to and when she finished, Miho clapped her hands and had a big smile on her face.

“Miho…” Nao said softly.

“Yes Ma’am?” Miho replied.

“How would you like to live with me? I’ll send you to a wonderful school so you can learn and make friends; join a club…maybe a Light Music Club? You can graduate and go to college and become something more than you have experienced for the past few years living in that tent city, alone. We could be a family, I will adopt you as my own daughter and I’ll show you the love that every child needs. You’ll never want for anything, you’ll be safe and secure and hopefully happy…And, well, I would like that very much because I think you are so special and I fell in love with you the second you sat down on that bench in the park. I thought maybe we can help each other…be mother and daughter?” Nao said softly.

“I would like that very much Ma’am, I guess in a way, sitting down to talk with you, I was hoping the same thing; I don’t want to be out there anymore, its scary and difficult; I just want a normal life…” Miho said as she started to cry, she then embraced Nao tightly and Nao did the same in return.

“I love you Miporin,” Nao said.

“I love you…Mother,” Miho replied.

Next time on part 8 of K-ON!!!!! “Beautiful World” The band gets together where Sumire gives them good news on the location of their next show and Miho gains an extended family. Be here next Thursday!

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3 Comments

Oh, what a lovely resolution to so much suffering! I really like this chapter and your writing evoked a lot of emotion. Fast Car by Tracy Chapman…yes, we all want to “be someone, be someone…”Good story!

Really amazing chapter. There was this feeling like we were all going to embark on a journey. I really liked it. I love Fast Car by Tracy Chapman, such a good song and it was perfect for this moment. I am really glad that Nao will now get the chance to be a mother. It wasn’t exactly how she planned, but her journey has proven to be quite interesting! Just a very good chapter. I loved it.

The story will remain positive from here on. I’m looking for a heartfelt ending, but before then its going to be about the music which is the basis of K-ON!, so its half way to the end point. Keep reading and thanks for reading!